The last couple of days there has been a burning electrical smell from the left
rear wheel well. No smoke and I can't see anything that looks burnt. Today the engine started to stumble after about 10 minutes of driving at 60-65 mph. Slowed down and it smoothed out. Strong smell when I stopped a minute or so later. The "Service engine soon" light is on with a p0455 code. Could these be related and, if not, then what should I be looking for? Already did a forum search and nothing bmita for similarity. Thanks in advance.

'03 Disco, 135k miles

 

Might be a few different things. Maybe related, maybe not. Not what you want to hear but I have a few theories.

P0455 is a code for your evap system. My first thought would be that you didn't have your gas cap tightened enough and that has triggered your code. I had that happen several times with my stock gas cap. Apparently they are a very tight fit and when the weather is hot outside they tend to expand a bit and make them very hard to tighten up enough to not trigger that code. I've heard of people lightly sanding on the threads to make the fit not so tight (the seal is made with the rubber gasket under the lid and not the threads). Might also be time for a new gas cap.

Other than that I would crawl up under my rover and look for a line or hose that has been making contact with your exhaust system. I'm going to bet that something has broken loose from where it was before and made contact with the hot exhaust and is causing your evap leak.

Replace or repair the hose and you should be good to go. Had that happen to me last year when I extended my rear abs lines after doing a lift (don't extend them by the way, it's a waste of money on anything smaller than 3 inches of lift). I didn't tie up the two extra feet of abs line that I installed properly and a month or so down the road it made contact with my exhaust. Heat burned thru the cable and I got an ABS code.

Stuff like that happens so also maybe consider any work or changes you did under your truck recently. You might have knocked something loose that is getting burnt.

You might also have two unrelated issues. Something contacting the exhaust and a leak in your EVAP system.

Hopefully others with experience will chime in but get under there and take a close look along your exhaust in the area where you are experiencing the smell. And you can get a Stant aftermarket gas cap (Model 10819) for less than $10 at Autozone, Napa & the like.

 

Sounds like you might have a stuck caliper.

 

Would a caliper smell like electrical or more like brake shoes? The calipers, etc. are less than a year old.

 

Are the calipers new or just new brake pads (and maybe rotors)?

The pads & rotors could be new and you could still be experiencing a sticky caliper that is causing things to lock up and burn up the brake pads.

Not sure if that would cause your stumbling at 60 - 65 mph or not and I'm fairly certain that your P0455 is a second issue altogether (check that gas cap).

 

Burning clutch/brakes smell very much like electrical fire to me. I have a hard time distinguishing them with my nose.


Given that you are tracing it to under the vehicle somewhere and are getting an evap code, I would suspect the purge solenoid or a dead short in the evap wiring. It's not very protected from the elements down there.

Go for a short drive and then immediately get out and check each corner of the vehicle for excessive heat and smell, a stuck caliper will be pretty apparent

 

If your calipers are new, or you were messing around with your brakes at all, check your caliper slides. The two lubricated pins that the caliper slides back and forth with. Could be getting bound up or dry.

Take them out, wipe off any old lubricant, and apply generous amounts silicone paste to them. Don't use grease, it can eat away at the rubber collars. That could fix any potential caliper stickiness.

 

I only suggested caliper because I recently had that happen and initially thought it could have been electrical. If it is your brakes then your code issue would be completely separate.
A complete refurb front caliper is about $85 at Autozone when you exchange your old core. Rear may be a different price.
Go for a drive of about 5 miles. If the caliper is sticking you'll be able to feel the heat coming off the wheel from a couple of feet away. Along with the smell, of course.

 

Happened to me recently with a brand new caliper. It was stuck. Replaced it. Depending on how many miles you've driven, probably need to replace the brake pad and rotor as well (some say both sides to keep things even)

 

Ok, so I've ordered a replacement fuel cap as tightening the old didn't do anything. I'll be pulling the wheel/tire tomorrow and taking the brake apart to see what's what. Discs, calipers and pads were all new this spring. Hopefully that will lead me to a solution. Thanks to all for the input.